Hiking in Chapada

     Yesterday I went with Jr., Nienke, and Grace hiking in Chapada.  We had a blast.  We hiked about 12km total.  Between the four of us we had been to 45 different countries and spoke 6 different languages (English, Portuguese, Dutch, German, French, and a tribal Ethiopian language).  We started out by going where the sign told us not to go.  The park was closed do to landslides so we parked at a nearby restaurant and then went in the back way.  Don't tell my mom, please.  It took us over an hour to get to the first of seven  waterfalls (we only got to visit 3 of the seven due to time).  We got to the first one and Jr. and I climbed down into it.  It was pretty easy to get down but it wasn't so easy to get back up because you had to go up the way the water was coming down.  It is a hard obstacle to get around.  The third waterfall was the best.  Translated it meant waterfall of the jump and was named that for a reason.  That is exactly what we did.  On the way to the waterfalls we found some rocks to climb.  At first we decided that we better not attempt it but after a reconsideration by Jr. we climbed up it.  It was scary but a thrill and the day was an absolute blast.  We were exhausted when it was all said and done.  This week is our vacation week so we have a fun and exciting week ahead.  I'll keep you updated on how things are going this week.  Today we are headed to the movies and then to church.  Tomorrow we are going to hike and climb a mountain here in Cuiaba.  It will be an all day adventure.  We will get up early in the morning and head out there.  Tuesday we are going to go to Pantanal where I had went a couple of weeks ago and put pictures up, but this time we are going to take a boat ride and horseback ride through the whole thing.  Last time we just went where we could drive.  Wednesday and Thursday we are going to the village to give out supplies to the people there and then a water park is calling my name on Friday.  Thanks for the prayers.  I love and miss everyone.  Here are pictures from the hike yesterday.

Americans are all Gone 6.28.08

     The last couple of weeks were amazing.  God performed miracles and changed peoples lives.  I'm so thankful that I got to be apart of it all.  Yesterday I watched all my friends get on a plane and leave me behind.  There were plenty of tears shed.  Once I saw them get on the plane, it hit me!  I'm really not going home anytime soon.  It scared me a little, but it was also an exhiliration that I can't explain.  I officially changed my ticket.  I cancelled my ticket home on July 1, and I haven't bought a new one home yet.  I didn't buy a new one yet because the travel agents told me it would be cheaper if I bought a ticket closer to the time I wanted to go home.  So I'm not sure when I am coming home yet, but I will be before Dec. 4.  Please pray for me.  I need it right now.  I'm headed hiking with Jr. and he is calling my name telling me it's time to go so I will finish later.   Today will be a blast.  I love and miss everyone!

The seed is being watered!

I have 5 minutes before we leave to pick up the medical team at the airport so this will be short, but I want to tell you something else really cool that God has done. The family I was telling you about in the previous post came back to church last night. And last night their oldest son (they have 2 boys around the ages of 5 and 8) gave his heart to Christ. It´s crazy how, what we think was a dead end house, God turned it into a miracle. God is good! The family came and gave Julie and I a big hug and wanted to get in a picture with us. It meant a lot. I have the picture and when I get a chance I will upload it for you. Click on the Brazil Videos icon to the right and click on day 6 to see the story being told. Love yall and miss yall! Please pray for the clinic that will be going on in Santa Elvira this week!

Another Praise. I went to the visa office yesterday and they said for sure that I will get my visa extended to six months. All I have to do is come in and get my passport stamped.

The Week So Far

It has been one amazing week. God has worked in miraculous ways. He really has. Before today started we have seen almost 2,000 people pray to receive Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. Amen! There are tons of stories that I want to tell and one day I will, but I just want to tell you about one. Yesterday, Julie Locke knocked on a door of a Catholic family. The dad answered the door and said that they could come in. I stayed outside to pray for her. About 15 minutes later she walked out of the house and you could tell by the look on her face that it didn´t go so well. She walked over to me and just started to cry. The family shot her down and it just broke her heart. This is the second time that this has happened to her. She was completely discouraged. She thought it was her fault. She thought that she just wasn´t saying the right thing and that she needed to work on it. I tried to encourage her and share with her that she never fails if she shares her faith. I told her that you only fail when you don´t say anything at all. She planted a seed in their hearts and that is what she has been called to do. The rest of the day she was pretty down about it. Well service came around and you wouldn´t believe who showed up. It was the Catholic family that rejected salvation earlier that day. I saw them and wasn´t sure if that was them because I didn´t go in the house so I didn´t get a good look at their face. I was preaching that night so I laid my heart out their for everyone. I preached as if I would never preach again. When I got to the invitation part of the service, I just prayed for that family. I invited those that wanted to pray to receive Christ to walk down front, and sure enough both the Father and the Mother stood up and walked down to the front. I looked over at Julie, and by the look on her face, I knew for sure that that was the family that she had talked to earlier that day. I was once again amazed at God´s glory and power. I would like to know what went on in that house from the time Julie walked out to the time they came to church, but all I know is that God used the seed that Julie planted and moved in their hearts and eventually it lead to salvation. Julie and I were reminded that we never fail when sharing our faith. We only fail when we don´t share our faith. God is at work here and thank you for your prayers back at home. Please keep praying!

Videos

Things are going great! I don´t have a lot of time so I will write more later but here is the link to the videos of this week. I also put the link over to the write titled "Brazil Videos". You can click on it later on this week also and there will be more videos added. So check them out each day also to see if there has been a video added. Videos are thanks to Phil Inman. Love yall!

http://www.godtube.com/searchv3.php?search_text=club+brasil&search_type=video&x=27&y=0

Staying in Cuiabá this week

Last night I was asked if I would be willing to stay in Cuiabá this week because to of the men on the evangelism team asked if they could go to the village. So I am staying here with the rest of the team here at the hotel. I will also have internet access all week so I will be able to keep you updated on how things are going. Today was our first day out on the streets doing street evangelism. I believe that all the teams had a great time. I think God moved in a big way today. My group consists of Bro. Todd, Beth, Allyson, Julie, Pastor Edison (Local Pastor), and our translator Douglass. Today God used us to build His kingdom. I thankful that he is willing to use me. I ask that yall will beg God to change thousands of lives this week. I don´t have a lot of time to write because I am about to leave to head to church, so I will write in more detail later. I was reminded today how much I love this place and how much I want to serve the Brazilian people.

some more pictures of when I went to Poconé

This is Pastor Carlos and his wife

This is me at Pantanal chillin with some of the alligators

The Day Before the Evangelism Team Arrives 6.12.08

First of all I want to start by wishing my parents a happy anniversary. I know the day ends in an less than 5 minutes but this has been my first opportunity to write on my blog in a couple of days. Today is also Valentine´s day here in Brazil. So they get the cool privilege of having a Valentine´s day and an anniversary all in the same day. I love them very much and thankful that God put me with them too. They are my heroes. They always support me in my decision making to follow Christ whether they think it is the best thing at the time for me. I thank them for that because I surrendered my entire life to Christ and will follow him wherever he leads me. Right now that is Brazil. I´m not sure where that will be tomorrow, that is why I live for today and live everyday that God gives me to the fullest.
Tonight I went with Carlos over to Ricardo´s apartment for a cook out. We grilled meat as if all the meat in the world was being taken away. We grilled it Brazilian style. We hung the meat over the fire and slowly cooked it for about an hour. It was some of the juciest steak I have ever eaten. The meat tastest just like it came off a grill at Texas de Brazil. The best part about it is that I now know how to make this steak. It is super easy. Ricardo and I got a chance to talk for a while. I friendship is growing and every time we hang out he becomes more and more interested into this Christianity thing. I told him that more Americans were coming tomorrow for evangelism and he said he wanted to meet them. So tomorrow night I am going to take him with me to the hotel to meet everyone. I ask that all of you would pray that God would open his heart allowing him to see the Sovereignty to Christ. Pray for his salvation. After tomorrow we are headed to the village till the 28th of June. I won´t have internet there so this might be the last time I get a chance to post till the end of June. So if I don´t post just know that it is because I don´t have internet access. I pray that God will continue to teach and show you things throughout the summer. Slow down enough to make sure you can hear everything he is trying to teach you. So often we find ourselves always in a hurry and wonder why God isn´t speaking to us. The problem isn´t that God isn´t speaking, the problem is that we aren´t listening. So take a day or two and just hang out with God and rest in presence. I love you all and miss you a lot. I miss my family the most and love them with all my heart. I want to make a shout out to Big Al. Sorry I haven´t called you yet, but I want you to know that I miss you and love you with all my heart. You need to come back to Brazil and visit me. I´ll teach you some Portuguese and we can go on a double date together. Just kidding. But seriously. I love you and tell everyone in the college group that I said hey.

Until He returns!

The Day at Poconé 6.11.08

Yesterday was an amazing day. I got the opportunity to go with my good friend Carlos to a small town called Poconé. It is about two hours away from Cuiabá. We got up early enough to catch the first bus at 6a.m. Carlos is an architect and he designed a church there so we went to visit to see how things are going and to help them build. The church is in its early stages of the building process but it is coming along. We helped them lay the framing in the ground. Around lunch time the Pastor of the church, Pastor Carlos, asked if I wanted to talk on the radio. He said that the church pays for an hour of broadcast everyday and wanted me to be the guest of honor for the hour. That was really cool. At the beginning I spent about 5 minutes to tell about myself and tell everyone why I was in Brazil. I stayed there the entire hour and periodically he would ask me a question or two. It was a very unique experience. After that a lady from the church came and picked us up and took us to her house for lunch. This lady served us all day long. She was true blessing to me yesterday. After lunch she took us to Pantanal, which is a local national park where there are a bunch of wild and animals that you don´t get to see everyday. I saw about 70 alligators and no exaggeration in that at all. I also got to see the Tuyuyu. The Tuyuyu is the second largest bird in the world and is absolutely an amazing creature. It´s head is black, neck is red, and the body is white. I got about 5 feet away from a bunch of alligators. It was an adrenaline rush for sure. But they didn´t want anything to do with us. When we got too close they would often swim off.

To top it all off, I got the opportunity to preach at the church that I had been helping build all day. I spoke out Haggai where the people are building a temple. I thought it was relavent since they are in the process of building a new church. The Pastor was a really nice and funny guy. He truly loved his church and the church loves him. He is very passionate about reaching the people of Poconé. We stayed the night at his house and then got up early to catch the 6a.m. bus back to Cuiabá. The day reminded me once again how much I love this place and look forward to serving this people as long as God calls me to.

This the group that I hung out with all day. Pastor Carlos is on the far right and my good friend Carlos is the one on the other side of me. I am thankful for the friendship that God has given to us.

Deus é fiel!

Deus é fiel! (God is faithful) My God is good. He has opened so many doors in my life right now. About six months ago I knew I wanted to spend the summer away doing missions somewhere, but didn´t know where. I tried to go to Africa, but all those doors shut. Because of P.L.A.N.T. Worldwide, I was given the opportunity to come to Brazil for the summer. A couple of weeks out from the trip I felt God starting to work in me a heart for Brazil. A heart that didn´t want to come back to the states. I thought that the feeling I felt was crazy. My whole life I have been told that I would graduate high school and then go to college. No if or buts about it. For a couple of weeks I simply just sat back and prayed that God would take my life into his hands and do whatever he wanted. I felt that God was calling me to stay longer than two months in Brazil. So I knew that I needed to cut all connections to America so that I would have no excuse to why I had to go back to the states. I hurt some people while doing that and I am very sorry. Hopefully now you fully understand. The week before I came to Brazil, I spent in Guatemala with a team from Faith Baptist Church. On the third day of the trip (Tuesday), on my way to the orphanage, I felt God moving in my heart. God sealed that feeling that I had had for quite some time. When I got out of that van that morning at the orphanage, I knew that I would be staying in Brazil for longer than 2 months. I had no clue how, but I knew that he would take care of it. Deus é fiel! He has made that happen. It all started the first meal I ate in Brazil. I loved it. The food was so good. I knew that if I can eat the food then I can stay. Pastor Waldir and I started talking one day and one thing lead to another. We got on the topic of basketball and how I am interested in doing sports evangelism through basketball. He told me that there are a lot of opportunities for that here. Then he went on to tell me about his vision to start a sports camp in a village nearby where kids can come, play sports, and hear the Gospel. I immediately caught his vision. I looked at him and told him that God was calling me here to help him and that I wanted to stay. He said that he wanted me to stay and he felt that God was also calling me here also.
From that point we started planning out the rest. He told me that he has a house that I can stay in. The next day we went out to the camp (Água da Vida). He showed me around and told me exactly what he wanted to do. He took me to my house. I loved it. It is a small house with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms both with showers. It is a standing house that is new and not completely finished on the inside. It still needs to have tile laid on the floor, walls painted, and ceiling put into place. We will do all of those things once we raise the money. Pastor Waldir also has an extra oven with a stove and a refrigerator that he is giving to me. I already have a bed and some shelving that I will put in it. The house needs a lot of work but it can be lived in just as it is. It is crazy how God closes some doors that sound like great ideas only to open even better doors. The only thing now that keeps me from staying is not being able to raise the financial support needed to stay. But I have complete faith that God is going to take care of that, as well, just like He has taken care of everything else.
So as of right now I will be staying here in Brazil until December. At that point I will apply for a visa extension and if I get it then I will stay until August of `09. I am so excited. This is my home for now and I am treating it that way. I ask for continuation of prayers from all. I need it right as I plan to move away from home for 14 months.
I have completely given my life over to God and he has taken me on the ride of my life. I challenge all who are reading this to do the same. Give your life completely over to Christ and let him take you places you have never imagined, allow you to do things you have never dreamed of, and make you happier then you ever knew possible. I am missing you all already. God be with you and I love all of you. Thankyou for your prayers.

The weekend at Colheita

This weekend was amazing. I loved every minute of it. We got there at like one in the morning and then unloaded the truck. I slept great that night. We got up and then started preparing for Saturday night service and the medical team that is coming at the end of June. We cleaned glasses and separated all the medical supplies. Some family of the Souza´s came and helped us. Pastor Waldir also took me to the land that he bought where he has a vision of putting a sports camp there for kids. We spent a good while talking and throwing ideas back and forth at each other. Service on Saturday night was good (as far as I could tell because it was all in Portuguese and I don´t speak Portuguese yet). To end service we all got in a circle to pray. Once I opened my eyes, there was a huge banner infront of me that said, "Welcome to Brasil Jonathan Nason." Then they threw me a surprise party for my birthday which is tomorrow. We have been on the road for 8 hours today plus working in the village all day. I am sojo, which it the Portuguese word for sleepy. I am headed to bed. I pray that everyone is conitinuing to give glory to God in everything they do. Tchau!

Brazil

Oi! (hello)! I am safely in Brazil. I love it here. Sorry it has taken me so long to post. We have had problems with the internet. Sometimes it works and most times it doesn´t. It´s all good though. For the most part it has been pretty laid back. Pastor Waldir and I have been running a lot of errands. The driving here is crazy. Not as crazy as Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Tonight we are going to a village about 60 miles away. Pastor Waldir said it would take almost 3 hours to get there. That means we will be traveling very slow. Probably because the roads are really bad here. I´m looking forward to it. There we will prepare for the teams that are coming from Faith in a week. The village is a very poor part of the area. The poorest. Pastor Waldir hopes to move there once his wife graduates from nursing school.
Once I got to the airport here Pastor Waldir, his wife, Mary Louis, his daugther, and a friend of his Carlos met me there. Carlos has become a great friend. He has gone out of his way to make me feel welcome. He has taken out to eat and shown me around Cuiaba. Last night he took me to a fancy part for a bunch of architects (he is an architect). It was formal dress and they served us a meal. It was really cool. He also introduced me to some other college guys and one of them speaks English half decent. His name is Ricardo. Ricardo isn´t saved so that is my mission in the next couple of weeks. He has asked some questions the last couple of nights and last night I gave him an Enlgish Bible and shared the Gospel a little bit with him and 2 of the guys that live and go to school with him. They were interested and want to meet the other Americans who are coming to Cuiaba to talk about Jesus. I ask that you would please pray for those guys. Pray that Carlos and I would be able to love them and lead them to Christ. This all I have for now so please pray diliguently I will post once we get back from the village on Monday. Tchau! (goodbye)!